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Halloween fun in Griffith Park.

Donna Barstow — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 22:52:59 +0000

Oh, you missed this one. Next year!

Boo at the Zoo – Griffith Park
The Los Angeles Zoo is transformed into themed areas for trick-or-treaters with performances, pumpkin carving, crafts and creepy crawlies.
Location: the LA Zoo, 5333 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027 in Griffith Park off the 5 Freeway.
Dates: Oct 25-26, 2008
Hours: 10 am – 4 pm (Zoo is open until 5)
Cost: Adults $12, Children 2-12 $7, under 2 free
Info: www.lazoo.org

Image ©CT Department of Environmental Protection.

Ooh, looks like the scary part for this one is the parking.

Ghost Train Haunt

Griffith Park’s Travel Town
5202 Zoo Drive – Los Angeles, CA 90027
Phone: (323) 662-8030
E-Mail: info@lals.org
Website: www.lals.org

2008 DATES & HOURS: October 17-19, 24-26, 29-31, from 7:00 to 10:00pm nightly. Click here for the event’s flier.

PRICE: $5 suggested donation

PARKING: Free

PARKING PROBLEM: Not so much problem as confusion. The official address for Travel Town is 5202 Zoo Drive, but the entrance gate for this address is closed at night. The Ghost Train’s dirty parking lot is perhaps a quarter mile east. This is a dark road in the middle of Gritth Park with few cross streets and almost no street lights, but you will see the lights, artificial fog, and customers when you reach the miniature train area.

Well, that’s about it. I was hoping there was a cool Sierra Club Hike, or ravers party, but they haven’t told me about them. Or, you could just run around with 70’s style clothes and pretend you’re going to get murdered by the Hillside Stranglers, who buried two of their victims in the Park. (I thought at least two victims were left there, but could only find one, in this article:

Yolanda Washington
October 17, 1977
“The first victim was Yolanda Washington, a 19-year-old waitress, who was known to be a part of the Hollywood scene. Miss Washington was picked up off the street voluntarily and subsequently handcuffed and raped. Although the complaint does not say so, an investigative source said she was strangled in an automobile. Miss Washington was murdered Oct. 17, 1977, and her body was left at 6510 Forest Lawn Drive, near Griffith Park.”)

Not to mention one of the Manson murders happened 2 blocks away from me, 5 minutes from the park. I take relatives or would be-boyfriends there, to test their mettle.

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Two good things about the LA Times, and one bad.

Donna Barstow — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:03:31 +0000

I was going to write just the good things. I hate that German word that means happiness in the misfortune of others. And in general, I’m proud of living in a city with a well-regarded big paper. But something bad happened in the Sunday paper, so I’m including that, too. I’m sure the Times wouldn’t have it any other way.

First off, I’ve noticed that in almost every issue now, they write something about animals or birds or the environment. They even had a Column One on the new director of the Humane Society, Wayne Pacelle! Ten years ago, if you picked up the paper, you would have thought we lived in Cement City, with a photo here and there of the beach or the mountains right next to us, but no information of these spots as habitat, just as vacation spots. In fact, I would say it’s only been the last 2 years that you could see the words treehugger, or animal lover, used to describe someone, and not hear the contempt dripping from those words.

Photo by Jay Maidment, Rogue Pictures. The movie “Doomsday.”

And until a couple of years ago, every time I complained to the city about their atrocious tree hackers, (or even to the gp reps at Rec & Parks!) I would immediately proclaim my freedom from “those” groups, like the Tree People, or the Sierra Club, lest the city thought I was “one of them.” (I’m still not in either group; I respect the Tree People, but they’re sort of wimpy, and the Sierra Club is outright disingenuous, refusing to take a stand on hunting or overpopulation.)

Of course, the Times doesn’t deserve special commendation – all the media, after all, is warming up to the holistic/earth/natural movement that’s been growing. Still, the Times isn’t bucking the trend, so that’s good! And I like it.

Also, I don’t notice the weather report usually, but on the front page one day last week, they had the weather on the very corner tip, and it read:

Weather: Warm. Again.

I laughed at this! The Times made a funny! At least, I assume it did, and wasn’t just running out of ways to describe our boring sunshine. In any case, it goes in the good pile.

Now for the bad. Calendar had a section on Sunday called Shameless Loves, or something like. One short item was on a movie called Doomsday, about cannibals. I prefer to read movie reviews after I see the movie – especially for horror movies, as the reviews are kind of weird sometimes -but couldn’t resist taking a peek at this item. The author said she saw it opening night and the audience seemed to enjoy it. And then – PLEASE NOTE, SPOILER AHEAD!!! she writes:

…the small audience did grow more vocal as the movie went on, and toward the end when Sol – spoiler alert!-is decapitated, an ovation broke out.

What the HELL??? You just ruined the entire movie by giving out the ending, and your “spoiler alert” is directly in front of the word decapitated!! So freaking annoying. So I looked up the author, wondering if it was some freelancer for the Times, and, nope, it’s Kate Aurthur, who turns out to be the TV Editor! Gah! This is an industry town, she’s editor of the TV section, and she thinks giving the ending away is amusing? NOT. Don’t ask her to write reviews on any of MY tv shows, please.

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Vote for the woman this time.

Donna Barstow — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:10:21 +0000

I have talked many times before about the bsa and her amazing work to keep the park free from ~~riff-raff~~ commercialization like trams and other icky things that certain people (Councilman Tom LaBonge) want to see in the park.

Now’s the time to step forward.

PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTE FOR THESE CANDIDATES:
Proven heavy-lifters who are working to protect Griffith Park. Their presence on the Board helps advance a vision for the Park that is GREEN, OPEN and FREE.

DISTRICT A
Vote for Laura Howe and Bernadette Soter

DISTRICT C
Vote for Kathryn Louyse

Official Polling Place:
Our Mother of Good Counsel Parish Hall.
One block south of Los Feliz Blvd on Vermont Avenue at Ambrose.
Parking lot on Vermont.

Anyone who goes to the park or lives near it or can SEE it, even, is eligible to vote. Do it.

Remember, Bernadette is the way to go for gp to grow.

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Beverly Hills is different, for smokers, too.

Donna Barstow — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:57:52 +0000

I had to go see my dentist (just a checkup!) in Beverly Hills last week. (Sometimes I wish there was something ELSE I could do in Beverly Hills, because it’s a trek to get there, but WHAT??)

Anyway, when I turned onto Beverly Blvd, there was one of those green electronic traffic warning signs, with a different kind of warning: “No Smoking in a vehicle when a minor is with you. Fines are enforced.”

I couldn’t believe it! I hate smoking anywhere, and can smell a cigarette a block away, but isn’t this getting a little close to…home? In your private car? Where are the ~~whiners~~ libertarians on this?

But then when I got home I looked it up, and it’s a state law, not just Beverly Hills, passed Jan 1, 2008. Well, why can’t the rest of LA put up threatening signs, too, then? Silver Lake wouldn’t mind being told what to do, I bet. I hate living in a city of wimps.

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Rain closures in Griffith Park.

Donna Barstow — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:57:53 +0000

The oddly moderated Griffith Park Recovery, which has only anonymous posts, in a boring press release style, says some (most?) roads into GP will be closed for rain. Past rain, that is; no rain yet today. Includes the Bird Sanctuary, and we know how popular that is.

For no determinate time. So don’t count on them. Just sit and wait for another announcement.

Here’s something to look at while you wait: snow above Glendale Blvd, in Atwater. It looks like about 3 mountain ranges away- first time this year it’s been visible. Say, is that a Martian in the upper right corner?

Atwater could change its name to Atsnow, if it crept down the mountain.

Closeup of the snow-capped mountain. Hmm, Snow Caps…Want to go to the movies?!

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Wet rain.

Donna Barstow — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 06:41:52 +0000

I had a couple of things to do tonight and I was kind of looking forward to driving in the rain. Be tough, pretend you’re back east. It’s been a couple of days now, so drivers will be back to normal. The rain is pretty, too, with the reflected car lights!

Urban Outfitters Anchor Away Boots. So cute! I’m tempted!

As I suspected, LA drivers are adaptable, and were driving fairly safely, (except for the usual clueless who confuse having wheels that are too big for the truck with their small penis.) Not the drivers, it’s the Los Angeles infrastructure that’s so bad. When I was jogging around Silver Lake last night, I noticed that the street was totally flooded into one lane, and rather than jump over 10 feet of water, I had to backtrack. But that’s by a big reservoir. I didn’t take that to mean that when I drive on main streets as I did tonight, that I should have to be concerned about flooded intersections that are 6 to 10 inches deep, splashing deep into the bowels of my brakes. I don’t know if I have the kind of brakes that are dangerous when wet, but it’s scary to hear that huge wave smack the side of the car.

I made the good decision to wear sneakers, of course. But twice, both in parking lots, I couldn’t gauge the depth of the moving water, and my sneakers and socks were soaked instantly, as well as the bottom edges of my pants. Creeks in the middle of parking lots. Crap! I tried not to let my face show that I was walking around in squishy, freezing cold shoes. It’s just been 2 days of rain, and the ground should be thirsty, after months of drought. Why are these lots so poorly designed? What the hell is blocking the sewers and drains everywhere? Didn’t they build any gutters?

Note to self: buy rubber boots, preferably yellow or red, hope they don’t crack and dry out in the summer, and make someone else drive.

My hair looked good, though!

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Concert to benefit Griffith Park Recovery Fund

Donna Barstow — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:51:05 +0000

There will be a FREE concert called Out of the Ashes on Sunday, October 14 , 6 PM in the Old Zoo Picnic Area of the park. (where’s that?)

There’s also a Benefit Reception at 4:30 with wine and cheese. This requires a donation of $500. (That’s steep, but so are the burned hills.) Guess what, you’ve heard me talk about John Kirk Murki and cb, right? Go meet them in person!

More info here.

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New category: Oogli Trees

Donna Barstow — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:40:53 +0000

Cut in the prime of life by Davey Tree “Expert” Co. Just in time for Halloween.

I went to an all girls high school, which was stressful only because everything was college oriented, not because it was stereotypical catty. So it wasn’t until I went to college that I heard the term (from guys) “ugly stick.” Only they said it like this, “O-o-o-o-gli!” pointing in a mocking, unkind way towards anyone they didn’t like (meaning women who weren’t a 10). Under their breath, I guess, because I don’t think they got busted by sassy college girls.

I never did this towards a person, but I am condemned to notice the outrageously hideous tree trimming all around the city. When a mature tree on a property is worth a cool $10,000 minimum, what exactly are homeowners thinking about? Not the value of their home, I guess.

When a tree is on the meridian (? I forget what you call trees on the other side of the sidewalk) and not on private property, that’s different. No matter who paid for those trees, the city owns them, and is responsible for them. When the LADWP or LA Street Maintenance comes bulldozing through the streets to trim, homeowners are notified ahead of time. (apartment dwellers just have to guess – 2nd class and all that.) If you don’t want to risk a careless or bad job, the trees scarred and/or botched for several months (or forever), request a LICENSED ARBORIST from the city to be at the site while your tree or street is trimmed. You can’t believe how much better your tree will look than your neighbor’s. And isn’t that what it’s all about?

This poor Oogli tree is quite close to me. The LADWP subcontracted Davey Trees to do the trimming. These are high voltage wires, and DWP requires that trees be cut 10 feet radius from them.

Same tree. I don’t know what type it was, but now it’s an Oogli tree.

Instead, Davey cut about 25 feet from the wires. Could it be any uglier?

Remember, there are no Oogli trees, just Oogli cutters.

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